When I was asked to choose DonorsChoose Challenge project, I immediately knew I had to pick something to do with gardening. Children can benefit from the physical activity of working in a small garden plot; growing their own vegetables encourages children to eat them; and gardening is just plain FUN!

The first two projects I picked were SO appealling that they were quickly funded. I crossed my fingers the third time and chose Mrs. F's Building Gardens, Building Communities project. I never imagined that I could project that would allow the students to further educate the public on the value of gardening. But I did.

Mrs. F teaches 6-8 graders who already have a successful organic garden.

We have an outdoor classroom that consists of growing beds, an apple orchard, a greenhouse, chickens and a pot bellied pig. Students are able to apply lessons learned in their core classes to real-life situations. We grow fruits, vegetable and flowers to sell and for our own consumption--much of the garden harvest is eaten on campus. Our garden is all organic and we compost using lunchroom waste and chicken manure.

What Mrs. F. hopes her students can do now is share their knowledge with the community (and hopefully the world) be writing and creating a series of podcasts explaining different steps in organic gardening. They will also team with students at other schools in the area to begin garden projects at those schools.

Gardening as community building.

Isn't the dream of many of us who participate in social media to make it easier for communities to be formed and built. This effort will start with children and teens to begin the community building efforts early.

My vision with this project is that my students will take what they know about organic gardening, do further research to clarify and refine their knowledge, then translate this into short 1-2 minute video pod casts showing someone else the steps and elements involved in creating a organic garden. Through a service learning project my students will adopt a 3rd or 4th grade class at another school in the district. We will establish a relationship through letters and Internet blogging. My students will visit their buddy school site to help them start seedlings, prepare the garden area, then to transplant the plants out into the garden. In between our visits the adopted school buddies will be able to view our video podcasts to learn more about how to create a organic garden. They will also learn why it is important to do this in an environmentally friendly way. The hope is that all the students will understand the impact organic farming, buying locally grown and/or growing your own friuts and vegetable can have on our environment. My students will learn how to share their knowledge with others through visual media. They will learn storyboarding, narration and video editing techniques.

This is an exciting opportunity for students to use current technology to invigorate learning. Creating a product that will be used by other is much more meaningful and helps create greater understanding of concepts. We have a chance to make a small difference within our community by helping others to learn to grow food in a more earth friendly manner. Planting the seeds of change can create a beautiful garden of opportunity.

To participate in this project, Mrs. F needs 3 digital video cameras plus a tripod to help stabilize some of the shots. I have a feeling with these, her students will be spreading the word of organic gardening, composting, and eating healthy fruits and vegetables further than their small community.